“The best of the 2011 Pinots from the Sonoma Coast are radiant, almost iridescent wines; they quietly glow with their flavors more than directly state them, as the best Pinot Noir should.” According to Jon Bonné, 2011 could be remembered as “the year of the great schism” with Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. He’s pleased with many of the wines.

In the Financial Times, Andrew Jefford contends that “Austria is in the middle of a red revolution.” (Wine, that is.)

“One was a slightly gruff, chain-smoking winemaker who never went to university, the other an urbane, Oxford-educated advertising executive. What they had in common – and would, I hope, have established a bond between them – was a love of wine and an ability to take risks, flouting rules if necessary.” In a touching post, Tim Atkin MW remembers Peter Lehmann and Tim Hamilton Russell, “two great men of wine.”